The Kings and Doña Sofía will charge 2.5% this year, even with the frozen budget, up to 538,500 euros

MADRID, 15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, as well as Queen Sofía, will charge 2.5% more this year to just over 538,500 euros despite the fact that the budget for the Royal Household is frozen for the third consecutive year.

This is stated in the breakdown of the budget published on the Zarzuela website, according to which the Casa del Rey has a total of 8,431,150 euros for 2023. This item is the same that the Government assigned to it in the General State Budget (PGE) in 2022, which will be frozen for the third consecutive year.

As Zarzuela has explained, the salaries of members of the Royal Family have increased by 2.5% in accordance with the provisions of the PGE with respect to the increase planned for the salaries of senior government officials.

Already in 2022, both the Kings and Doña Sofía saw their allocation increased by 2% according to this same argument, while in 2021 Don Felipe, who is the one who ultimately assigns the budget, decided not to apply this premise and maintained the salaries of the Royal Family frozen.

This year, after the increase is applied, Felipe VI is expected to receive 269,296 euros, Queen Letizia will receive 148,105 euros and Doña Sofía will receive ?121,186. In total, their allocations amount to 538,587 euros.

As in previous years, the bulk of the King's House budget is allocated to personnel expenses, which includes the Royal Family. This item represents 56.25% of the total, with 4,202,250 euros earmarked for other personnel expenses. Here we must include the 2.5% increase that will also be received by senior officials, who will charge a total of 849,000 euros.

The second largest item is the one related to current expenses in goods and services, of 32.89%, and which in this case amounts to 2,773,313 euros. As Zarzuela has specified, the budget in this section increases by 0.83%.

"The significant increase in institutional activity entails an increase in the budget for protocol and representation expenses, in addition to the amounts allocated to travel, which is offset by a reduction, mainly, in consultancy and ICT work compared to the previous year", has clarified Royal House.

Within this section, 1,896,613 euros will be allocated to material, supplies and others (a figure lower than 2022), while there will be 605,000 euros for protocol and representative attentions, compared to 370,000 the previous year. This also includes 139,700 euros for leases and fees and 82,000 euros for repairs, maintenance and conservation.

Finally, one million euros is planned for financial expenses, 746,000 euros for investments, mainly destined for the digital transformation plan of the Casa del Rey started in 2019, and 168,000 euros for the contingency fund.